Artificial selection of soil microbial communities for increased plant growth promotion traits

Beschrijving

Microbial communities, acting as key drivers of ecosystem processes, harbour immense
potential for sustainable agriculture practices. Phosphate-solubilising microorganisms, for
example, can partially replace conventional phosphate fertilisers, which rely on finite
resources. However, understanding the mechanisms and engineering efficient communities
poses a significant challenge. In this study, we employ two artificial selection methods,
environmental perturbation, and propagation, to construct phosphate-solubilising microbial
communities. To assess trait transferability, we investigate the community performance in
different media and a hydroponic system with Chrysanthemum indicum. Our findings reveal a
distinct subset of phosphate-solubilising bacteria primarily dominated by Klebsiella and
Enterobacterales. The propagated communities consistently demonstrate elevated levels of
phosphate solubilisation, surpassing the starting soil community by 24.2% in activity. The
increased activity of propagated communities remains consistent upon introduction into the
hydroponic system. This study shows the efficacy of community-level artificial selection,
particularly through propagation, as a tool for successfully modifying microbial communities to enhance phosphate solubilisation.

Periode	30 okt. 2024